“I’m not going to stand up and say the economy grew by 26 per cent,” Bloomberg quoted prominent Irish economist Jim Power as saying.

Power later added that the numbers are “meaningless.”

If he believes that, it’s because of where this new wealth is coming from. Behind much of that “growth” are companies that are shifting their headquarters to Ireland, to take advantage of the country’s very low 12.5-per-cent corporate tax rate.

The country has become a target destination for “tax inversions,” which involve a large company buying a smaller one — in this case, an Irish one — then shifting its entire headquarters to Ireland to avoid higher taxes in other countries.

A U.S. flag is reflected in the Pfizer Inc. world headquarters in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. Drug giant Pfizer, maker of Viagra, changed its mind about shifting headquarters to Ireland after the Obama administration cracked down on tax inversions. (Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Earlier this year, the Obama administration cracked down on tax inversions, and it appeared to work: Drug giant Pfizer shelved a plan to move to Ireland in the wake of the new rules — a move that would have saved the company $35 billion in taxes.

But experts say trying to stop this from happening is like playing a game of “whack-a-mole,” and companies are already looking for other loopholes.